You may lose some or all of your initial purchase price for the Notes because the Notes are highly risky and speculative. Only investors who can bear the loss of their entire purchase price should purchase.
Notes are highly risky and speculative because payments on Notes depend entirely on payments to us of unsecured obligations of individual borrowers and contemporaneous payments on the Notes, which are special, limited obligations of LC. Notes are suitable purchases only for investors of adequate financial means. If you cannot afford to lose all of the money you plan to invest in Notes, you should not purchase Notes.
Payments on each Note depend entirely on the payments, if any, we receive on the corresponding Loan related to that Note. If a borrower fails to make any payments on the corresponding Loan related to your Note, you will not receive any payments on your Note.
We will make payments pro rata on a series of Notes, net of our service charge, only if we receive the borrower’s payments on the corresponding Loan and such payments clear and therefore become available for distribution to investors. We will not pay to investors any unsuccessful payment fees, check processing fees, collection fees we or our third-party collection agency charge. If we do not receive payments on the corresponding Loan related to your Note, you will not be entitled to any payments under the terms of the Notes, and you will not receive any payments. The failure of a borrower to repay a Loan is not an event of default under the terms of the Notes.
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The Notes are special, limited obligations of ours only, and the Notes are not secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by any third party.
The Notes will not represent an obligation of borrowers or any other party except by us, and are special, limited obligations of ours. The Notes are not secured by any collateral and are not guaranteed or insured by any governmental agency or instrumentality or any third party.
Loans are unsecured obligations and as such are not backed by any collateral or guaranteed nor are they insured by any third party, and you must rely on us and our designated third-party collection agency to pursue collection against any borrower.
Loans are unsecured obligations of borrowers. They are not secured by any collateral, not guaranteed or insured by any third party and not backed by any governmental authority in any way. We and our designated third-party collection agency will, therefore, be limited in our ability to collect Loans.
Moreover, unsecured Loans are obligations of borrowers to us as assignee of the Loan’s promissory note from WebBank, or obligations of borrowers to the Trust as assignee of the Loan’s promissory note from us. Loans are not obligations to holders of Notes. Holders of Notes will have no recourse against borrowers and no ability to pursue borrowers to collect payments under Loans. Holders of Notes may look only to us and the Trust, respectively, for payment of the Notes, and our obligation to pay the Notes is limited as described in this document.
Furthermore, if a borrower fails to make any payments on the Loan corresponding to a Note, the holder of that Note will not receive any payments on that Note. The holder of that Note will not be able to obtain the identity of the borrower in order to contact the borrower about the defaulted Loan.
If payments on the corresponding Loan become overdue, it is likely you will not receive the full principal and interest payments that you expect due to collection fees and other costs, and you may not recover any of your original purchase price.
If the borrower fails to make a required payment on a Loan within 30 days of the due date, we will pursue reasonable collection efforts in respect of the Loan. We may handle collection efforts in respect of a delinquent Loan ourselves, or we may refer a delinquent Loan to a collection agency on the 31st day of its delinquency. These efforts will be considered reasonable collection efforts. If we refer a Loan to a collection agency, we will have no other obligation to attempt to collect on that delinquent Loan.
If payment amounts on a delinquent Loan are received from a borrower more than 30 days after their due date, then we, or, if we have referred the delinquent Loan to an outside collection agency, that collection agency, will retain a percentage of any funds recovered from such borrower as a service fee before any principal or interest becomes payable to you from recovered amounts in respect of Notes related to the corresponding Loan.
We or the collection agency may be unable to recover some or all of the unpaid balance of a non-performing Loan. You must rely on the collection efforts from us and the designated collection agency, and you are not permitted to attempt to collect payments on the Loan in any manner.
Borrowers may not view or treat their obligations to us as having the same significance as loans from traditional lending sources, such as bank loans and borrower Loans may have a higher risk of default than loans of borrowers with similar credit scores to other lenders.
The investment return on the Notes depends on borrowers fulfilling their payment obligations in a timely and complete manner under the corresponding Loan. Borrowers may not view our lending obligations facilitated through our platform as having the same significance as other credit obligations arising under more traditional circumstances, such as loans from banks or other commercial financial institutions. If a borrower neglects his or her payment obligations on a Loan upon which payment of the corresponding Note is dependent or chooses not to repay his or her borrower Loan entirely, you may not be able to recover any portion of your investment in a Note.
Our Public Credit Policy loan grading algorithm is based upon historical credit performance of certain populations and as a result the actual performance of a Loan may not be consistent within or across loan grades and may result in an unanticipated loss of capital.
Our proprietary pricing algorithm for Public Policy Loans is based primarily upon the historical loan performance of actual borrowers that met the requirements of the algorithm, the assumed performance of applicants that would have been approved under the current algorithm but were declined by prior methodologies, and the exclusion of borrowers that were approved under prior methodologies but would have been declined under the new algorithm, in addition to other factors and assumptions. Because the algorithm is based upon these assumed performances and the assumptions of management which may change over time as the available data grows and our analysis continues to develop, the actual performance of a graded loan may differ materially versus previously issued, similarly graded loans or other grades and this may result in a greater loss of your investment capital than anticipated.
Credit Information that we receive about a borrower may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect the borrower’s creditworthiness, which may cause you to lose part or all of the purchase price you pay for a Note.
We obtain borrower credit information from consumer reporting agencies, such as TransUnion, Experian or Equifax, and assign one of 35 loan grades to Public Policy Loan requests, from A1 through G5, based on the reported credit score, other information reported by the consumer reporting agencies and the requested loan amount. A credit score or loan grade assigned to a borrower may not reflect that
borrower’s actual creditworthiness because the credit score may be based on outdated, incomplete or inaccurate consumer reporting data, and we do not verify the information obtained from the borrower’s credit report. Additionally, there is a risk that, following the date of the credit report that we obtain and review, a borrower may have:
Moreover, investors do not, and will not, have access to consolidated financial statements of borrowers, or to other detailed financial information about borrowers.
Information supplied by borrowers may be inaccurate or intentionally false and should generally not be relied upon.
Borrowers supply a variety of information that is included in the borrower loan listings on our website and in the posting reports and sales reports we file with the SEC. Other than as described below, we do not verify this information, and it may be inaccurate or incomplete. For example, we do not verify a borrower’s stated tenure, job title, home ownership status or intention for the use of loan proceeds, and the information borrower’s supply may be inaccurate or intentionally false. Unless we have specifically indicated otherwise in a loan listing, we do not verify a borrower’s stated income. For example, we do not verify borrower paystubs, IRS Forms W-2, federal or state income tax returns, bank and savings account balances, retirement account balances, letters from employers, home ownership or rental records, car ownership records or any records related to past bankruptcy and legal proceedings. In the limited cases in which we have selected borrowers for income or employment verification, for the year ended December 31, 2013, approximately 58.6% of requested borrowers provided us with satisfactory responses to verify their income or employment; approximately 9.6% of requested borrowers withdrew their applications for Loans, and approximately 30.5% of requested borrowers either failed to respond to our request in full or provided information that failed to verify their stated information, and we therefore removed those borrowers’ Loan postings. The identity of borrowers is not revealed to investors, and investors also have no ability to obtain or verify borrower information either before or after they purchase a Note. Potential investors may only communicate with borrowers through our website postings, and then only on an anonymous basis. While we may monitor website posting for appropriate content, we do not verify any information in the postings nor do we respond to requests from investor or borrowers in any posting and any response to the contrary should not be seen as accurate.
If you rely on false, misleading or unverified information supplied by borrowers in deciding to purchase Notes, you may lose part or the entire purchase price you pay for a Note. Loan posting and borrower information available on our website will be statements made in connection with the purchase and sale of securities, and therefore subject to Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Loan posting and borrower information filed in prospectus supplements will be subject to the liability provisions of the Securities Act. However, in each event, we are only providing information that was submitted to us by the borrower. In this document, we advise potential investors as to the limitations on the reliability of this information, and an investor’s recourse in the event this
information is false will be extremely limited. Consequently, investors should rely on loan grade, which we determine based on third-party credit report information, and the size of the loan request, and should not rely on unverified information provided by borrowers.
You should not assume that a Note is appropriate for you as an investment vehicle just because it corresponds to a Loan listed on our platform or is included in a portfolio built based upon your investment criteria through any of the portfolio tools.
While we take precautions to prevent borrower identity fraud, it is possible that identity fraud may still occur and adversely affect your ability to receive the principal and interest payments that you expect to receive on Notes.
We use identity checks with a third-party provider to verify each borrower’s identity and credit history. Notwithstanding our efforts, there is a risk that identity fraud may occur without our detecting it, and a Loan obtained by identity fraud may simply default. While we will repurchase Notes in limited identity fraud circumstances involving the corresponding Loan, we are not otherwise obligated to repurchase a Note from you for any other reason. From October 2008, when we commenced the issuance of Notes, through December 31, 2013, we had repurchased Notes for a total of $0.5 million relating to fifty one corresponding Loans in which identity fraud occurred. If we repurchase a Note based on identity fraud involving the corresponding Loan, you will only receive an amount equal to the outstanding principal balance of the Note.
40 • become delinquent in the payment of an outstanding obligation;
• default on a pre-existing debt obligation;
• take on additional debt; or
• sustain other adverse financial events.
We have the exclusive right to investigate claims of identity theft and determine, in our sole discretion, whether verifiable identity theft has occurred. As we are the sole entity with the ability to investigate and determine verifiable identity theft, which triggers our repurchase obligation, a conflict of interest exists as the denial of a claim under our identity theft guarantee would save us from the repurchase obligation.
Our performance data about borrower performance on our Public Policy Loans is just over six years old. Default and charge-off rates on Loans may increase.
Due to our limited operational and origination history, we have limited historical performance data regarding borrower performance on Public Policy Loans, and we do not yet know what the long-term loss experience may be. As of December 31, 2013, for all Loans, our default and charged-off rate was 3.29% of the principal balance of loans. These default and charge-off rates may increase in the future. In addition, as we do not have significant experience in the performance of five-year Public Policy Loans, the future default rates on these loan types is uncertain and may exceed our current expectations. As actual loss experience increases on our platform, we may change how loan interest rates are set, and investors who have purchased Notes prior to any such changes will not benefit from these changes.
Default rates on loans may increase as a result of economic conditions beyond our control and beyond the control of borrowers.
Loan default rates may be significantly affected by economic downturns or general economic conditions beyond our control and beyond the control of individual borrowers. In particular, default rates on Public Policy Loans on which the Notes are dependent may increase due to factors such as prevailing interest rates, the rate of unemployment, the level of consumer confidence, residential real estate values, the value of the U.S. dollar, energy prices, changes in consumer spending, the number of personal bankruptcies, disruptions in the credit markets and other factors. The significant downturn in the United States economy that occurred in the past several years caused default rates on consumer loans to increase, and a similar downturn in the future will likely result in increased default rates.
If you decide to invest through the platform and concentrate your investment in a single Note (or a small number of Notes), your entire return will be highly dependent on the performance of a single loan.
Loans facilitated through our platform have a wide range of credit grades, and we expect that some borrowers at all credit grades will default on their loan. If you decide to invest through the platform and concentrate your investment in a single Note (or a small number of Notes) your entire return will depend on the performance of that single Loan (or that concentrated small number of Notes). For example, if you plan to purchase $100 of Notes, and choose to invest the entire $100 in a single Note instead of in four $25 Notes corresponding to the loan of four different borrowers, you would lose your entire $100 investment if that single borrower defaulted. Failing to diversify your investment increases the risk of losing your entire investment due to a single borrower’s default, or a small number of borrower defaults. Diversification, however, will not eliminate the risk that you may lose some, or all, of the expected principal and interest payments on the Notes.
The Public Policy Loan on which the Notes are dependent do not restrict borrowers from incurring additional unsecured or secured debt, nor do they impose any financial restrictions on borrowers during the term of the Public Policy Loan, which may increase the likelihood that a borrower may default on their loan.
All Public Policy Loans are credit obligations of individual borrowers. If a borrower incurs additional debt after obtaining a Loan through our platform, that additional debt may adversely affect the borrower’s creditworthiness generally, and could result in the financial distress, insolvency, or bankruptcy of the borrower. This circumstance could ultimately impair the ability of that borrower to make payments on the borrower’s loan and your ability to receive the principal and interest payments that you expect to receive on Notes dependent on those Public Policy Loans. To the extent that the borrower has or incurs other indebtedness and cannot pay all of its indebtedness, the borrower may choose to make payments to other creditors, rather than to us.
As to these Public Policy Loans, to the extent borrowers incur other indebtedness that is secured, such as mortgage, home equity or auto loans, the ability of the secured creditors to exercise remedies against the assets of the borrower may impair the borrower’s ability to repay the loan on which your Note is dependent for payment, or it may impair our ability to collect on the Loan if it goes unpaid. Since the Public Policy Loans are unsecured, borrowers may choose to repay obligations under other indebtedness before repaying loans facilitated through our platform because the borrowers have no collateral at risk. An investor will not be made aware of any additional debt incurred by a borrower, or whether such debt is secured.
Loans do not contain any cross-default or similar provisions. If borrowers default on their debt obligations other than the Loan, the ability to collect on Loans on which the Notes are dependent may be substantially impaired.
Loan documents do not contain cross-default provisions. A cross-default provision makes a default under certain debt of a borrower an automatic default on other debt of that borrower. The effect of this can be to allow other creditors to move more quickly to claim any assets of the borrower.
Because the Loans do not contain cross-default provisions, a Loan will not be placed automatically in default upon that borrower’s default on any of the borrower’s other debt obligations, unless there are relevant independent grounds for a default on the loan.
In addition, the Loan will not be referred to a third-party collection agency for collection because of a borrower’s default on debt obligations other than the Loan. If a borrower defaults on debt obligations owed to a third party and continues to satisfy payment
In addition, the Loan will not be referred to a third-party collection agency for collection because of a borrower’s default on debt obligations other than the Loan. If a borrower defaults on debt obligations owed to a third party and continues to satisfy payment